Is moving to the center possible in todays politics esp. with an election near?

[atheist4thecause]

Being in the Center is not only possible but necessary. Anybody who thinks President Trump is Far Right just hasn't been paying attention. President Trump campaigned on many formerly Democratic positions. The fact that he dominated the Midwest shows that he is, in fact, a Centrist. People often confused Centrism with Moderatism, but the important difference is that a Centrist is willing to go to the extremes on any single issue while Moderates are not. Centrists necessarily take issues from both sides, but Moderates don't necessarily.

Some of you will be extremely skeptical of my claim that President Trump is a Centrist, so I'll give you some issues he campaigned on either for the Republican nomination or General election:

1) Border Security - This became a major part of his campaign, and historically border security is a Democratic policy. By protecting borders you protect the wages and even rights of workers. Republicans have historically wanted to allow more lenient immigration policy to flood the labor pool, drop wages and benefit companies hiring that labor.

2) Planned Parenthood - While Trump was running for the Republican nomination, he did say that he wouldn't support funding for the abortion services of Planned Parenthood. He did say, however, that he would support the funding of other services Planned Parenthood has because they do a lot of great work, especially for women. Republicans have historically wanted to try to take away all funding from PH.

3) Health Care - President Trump advocated for Universal Health Care. He went as far to reference Scotland's system. He said that he will cover all people, even if it costs him votes. This is a Democratic policy.

4) Tariffs & Trade Deals - Democrats have long defended Tariffs as a tool to protect workers and punish countries who take advantage of their populations. Trump advocated for and has defended and implemented many tariffs. Trump also made similar objections that Democrats have made, especially people like Bernie Sanders, that trade deals are too beneficial to international corporations and not beneficial enough to American workers.

So there are a bunch of issues where President Trump is clearly on the Left on. He's clearly on the Right when it comes to tax cuts, judge nominations and other issues. If President Trump was so clearly on the definitive Right, you have to ask yourself why the Republican Establishment opposed him to such an extent. He was literally their last option. They went from Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio to John Kasich to Ted Cruz.

In general, you do see the candidates that are more towards the Center winning. That doesn't mean they have to be a Centrist like President Trump, but the Neoliberals and Conservatives are more towards the Center than the Libertarians or Progressives, and it's the Neoliberals and Conservatives that have dominated. The Tea Party had popped up and they were further Right than Conservatives IMO pushing stronger religious/social policy, but they were never able to win the Republican Presidential Nomination.

Progressives are starting to make a push to disrupt this a bit. Bernie Sanders has a real chance to win the Democratic nomination. I think it's likely that if he does win the Democratic nomination, he'll get crushed in the General election. If he is to have any chance of winning, he will likely have to move to the Center on some issues to entice Independents over to his side.